Starvin’ Marvin
Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s there was a phenomenon sweeping the nation – Open Mic Nights. Ok, maybe phenomenon is too strong of a word there, but at worst it was one of the more hip things to be into. Anyone, anywhere, could get on stage at comedy clubs around the country and try their hand at comedy. Never mind that their sense of humor never made it past the X vs Y stage of their development, nor that they had they never told a successful joke in their lives. They thought they were funny, and they wanted attention.
The only good thing about this craze was the timing. Unless you actually took the time to go to a comedy club back then, you never saw these “entertainers,” nor did you know they existed.
We are now witnessing this generation’s version of the “Open Mic Night.” Twitter. Any clown anywhere and at any time can espouse his or her views of just about anything. Unfortunately, the technology now exists to where it’s visible to everyone. It’s costing people friendships, jobs, and now for the first time, millions of dollars.
Enter Marvin Austin, Senior defensive tackle for the University of North Carolina football team. Austin may have the distinction of being the first person to lose millions upon millions of dollars because he stepped up to the open mic that is twitter and told the world about the plethora of “extra benefits” he received from sports agents over the summer.
In case you didn’t know, current college students are forbidden from taking any sort of gift, favor, or loan from anyone while still having eligibility to play college sports. Austin in his infinite wisdom *ALLEGEDLY* took a whirlwind tour of South Beach with some of his “closest” friends from around the college football world. Five years ago, this probably flies under the radar, unless someone with firsthand knowledge of the trip snitched to the NCAA. Now, Austin removed the middle man and essentially reported himself through his insightful Twitter musings.
Most likely, Austin will be suspended for the upcoming football year; which in turn will assassinate his aspirations to be a 1st round NFL Draft pick. Before this year, he was projected to be a top 10 selection. Now, he might be considered a late 2nd round or early 3rd round pick. The only difference between those spots? Well the 8th pick in the 2009 NFL draft took home a 5 year, $35 million contract. A late second rounder? 4 years, $2.5 million. Yearly, that’s $7 million vs $625,000. Are both enough to live more than comfortably? Sure.
But do you really think it’s worth $6.3 million a year to tweet?
Welcome to the NFL’s version of the lower class, Marvin; hope you have enough scratch to buy bread this week.
